The Irish government is facing a big bill to remove an abandoned cargoship that washed up on its west coast after 16 months adrift in the Atlantic.
The country's revenue service, which acts as its receiver of wrecks, was cited by domestic media as saying it was still trying to trace the owner of the 1,600-dwt Alta (built 1976), which grounded on rocks in February near Ballycotton.
One person claiming to be the owner came forward at the time, but ownership remains unproven.
Now the government must decide whether to remove the vessel or let the elements take their course.
Salvage sources told state broadcaster RTE that the operation could cost more than €10m ($10.7m), which the sector sees as too expensive, as the vessel has no commercial value and a very low scrap value.
Cork County Council has warned the public to stay away from the wreck, saying it is unstable on a dangerous stretch of coastline.
A small amount of diesel remains on board, as well as some sealed oil containers.
Troubled history
The owner listed in July 2018 by the Equasis database was Alta Shipping of Miami.
The Alta, flying the Tanzanian flag, was abandoned in October 2018 en route from Greece to Haiti.
Last August, UK naval vessel HMS Protector encountered the mysterious derelict vessel in mid-Atlantic.
Its AIS name showed up as Elias, but there had been no update since the previous September, when it was underway west of the Strait of Gibraltar.
The US Coast Guard said in October 2018 that it had rescued 10 crew stranded on the disabled ship for nearly 20 days.
The crew reported that they had enough food for two days and water for 15 days.
A USCG plane dropped food supplies on to the vessel before more help could arrive.
The agency was at that time coordinating with the shipowner for a tug to tow the vessel to shore, but it is not clear what happened next.
Alta was said to have been disabled since 19 September that year.
